Railway-ticket, &amp; c.



. Patented IuIy 9, I90|` L. G. SMITH.

RAILWAY TICKET, &.c. (No Model.) `Lpphmticm led Har. 22, 1901.) 3 Sheets-*sheet I.

UPLICATE OF CONTRACT.

IIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIH'II IIIIII IIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIII I|I|||1|II SIGNATURE of* PURcHAsER SIGNATUREFELL/NG AGENT.

WASHINGTON ATLANTA .A

vAv1/INTA T0 /Q 5ST Po/NT.,

WEST POINT ...(1, T0 fC NEW ORLEANS.

ms, A

no. 678,354.' Patented my 9, |901. n L. s. smTH.

RAILWAY TICKET, 8m.

Appliention med In'. B2, 1901.) (lo Rodel.) 3 Shoots-Shut 2.

IDENTIFICATION AND LIMIT STUB.

Aeu-rs DATING STAMP l l l l l l l I CONTRACT. I I I l I JC I5 e l l i l I 2y 5 l Slam-runs or PuRcHAssR. l :SIGNATURE arse-Luna AGENT.

VALIDATION RETURN DATE Anormm ,NUMBER sru. ZJ

77( RETURN j AGENTS D -DAT/NG STAMP DuPuoATE or CONTRACT.

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lllllllrllll lil-WWW ||1`|| ||IHI| 1HE Noams News co. mofaurna. wAsnlNsTcN. 0.1:.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

Patented IuIy 9, IsoI. L. G. SMITH. IIAILwIIY TICKET, aw.

(Application tiled In. 22, 1901.)

CONTR/Ic (No Model.)

g; :E:: g

.1 /MITv STUB.

SIGNATURE or PuRcHAsER.

SIGNATURE or RETURN AGEN-r.

UNITED STATES*v PATENT OFFICE.

LOWNDES Gr. SMITH, OF COLUMBUS, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FREDERICK S. DECKER, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 678,354, dated July 9, 1901.

Application filed March Z2, 1901.y Serial No. 52,856. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LowNDEs GEANT SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Columbus,Colorado county, State of Texas, have vinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Tickets and the Like; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention is designed principally tovfurnish for railway-companies a form of excursion-ticket whose return portion or stop-over portion, as the case may be, is not capable of successful use by scalpers. Y The return or stopover portionof the ticket is contained Within the sealedenvelop orvwrapper and is securely andpsafely held therein against tampering, as would be any other contents similarly inc losed therein. In its broader aspects, therefore, the invention is not limited to railway-tickets, but extendsgenerally to safety envelops or wrappers.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents an inside plan view of the return or stop-over portion of a railway-ticket embodying my invention, the direct or going 4portion being shown as broken away. Figs.

2 and 3 represent like views of parts thereof on a larger scale. Fig. 3 represents a reverse view of the slotted side flap shown in Figs. 1 and 8. Fig. 4 represents an outside view of the ticket after the return or stop-over portion has been folded and sealed. Fig. 5 represents a like view of the back of the ticket. Fig. 6 represents a longitudinal central section through the folded and sealed ticket.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, o, indicates the usual direct or going portion of the ticket, comprising the customary contract and distance coupons or stubs, designed to be collected bythe conductor in the usual manner on the way from the starting-point to the final station. lInasrnuch as my invention does not relate specifically to this portion of the ticket, I have merely indicated its presence arbitrarily.

The return portion of the ticket is connected to the direct or going portion thereof by a limit-stub b, appropriately punched by the selling agent at the time of the purchase so as to indicate to the' purchaser the time limit within which he must apply to the return or stop-over agent for the validation of the return or stop-over portion. As indicated in Fig. if, this limit-stub remains outside ofthe folded return or stop-over portion of the ticket. It is provided with a slot 3. The return or stop-over portion may consist of any desired or appropriate number of coupons c, and for. convenience of audit these coupons may be preceded by a stub d, containing a duplicate of the customary contract, thel original or rst copy of the contract being printed upon the longitudinal iap e. These contracts are to be signed in the usual manner by the selling agent and purchaser and subserve the customary purpose of identifying the purchasers signature to the return or stop-over agent-at the time the purchaser applies for validation of the ticket.

Attached toy the iiap e is an identification and limit stub f, containing the usual brief description of the person of the purchaser and an indication of the limit of the ticket. The contract-flap e terminates in a gummed tongue g. Intermediate of the stubwcl and iiap e is the main body portion h, having a slot t, adapted to receive the tongue g, and another slot lo, adapted to receive the tongue l, having a slot r. The tonguel projects from the lateral cover-Hap fm, which cover-stub has printed upon it the contract for signature by the purchaser and the return or stop-over agent at the time the return or stop-over portion is presented for validation. A lateral iiap n serves for the validation, which is effected by receiving the stamp of the return agent and by having him indicate thereon the date and number of the train the purchaser must take to continue his journey in accordance with the terms of the contract. It will, furthermore, be noted that the tongue lis gummed on both sides, as indicated by small dots, and for a purpose which will pres ently appear.

It will of course be understood that the ticket will be issued to the selling agentk in the opened or unsealed condition and will comprise both the direct or going portion and the return or stop-over portion. When a sale is made, the agent stamps thecontract-fiap e and also the direct or going portion of the ticket and fills out or appropriately punches the identification and limit stubf. The purchaser and the selling agent thereupon sign the contract-iiap e and stub d. This having been done the selling agent folds the iiapf upon the stub e and folds the stub d upon the main body portion h and folds the coupons c upon d in such manner that they will also rest upon h. He then folds @and f upon the stubs o and passes the tongue g through the slot s. He then folds the liap n inwardly, and subsequently the flap m, the result being that the portions 72, d, @,f, e, n, and m now overlic each other, whereupon he moistens the gum on both sides of the tonguel and inserts said tongue through the slot 7c and presses it down, thereby sealing one side of the tongue Z to one side of h and sealing the other side of the tongue Z to the other side of h. He then moistens the gum on the tongue q and inserts said tongue g through the slot r of the tongueland through the slott'of the main body portion h, and in inserting said tongue g he bends it back parallel to itself, as indicated more fully in Fig. 6 and by a dotted line in Fig. 5, so that it will,when pressed down, adhere to opposite sides of that part of the main body portion which is included between thc two layers of the flap. The return or stop-over portion of the ticket is thus securely sealed, and the ticket presents the appearance shown in Figs. 4 and 5, with the limit-stub and direct or going portion of the v ticket projecting from the sealed portion and adapted to be folded upon the latter, so as to be conveniently carried in the pocket or pocket book. In connection with this description I wish to direct particular attention to the absolute character of the seal due to the reverse turn given to the sealing-Hap g after it is caused to enter the slots r and i.

B y this expedient the seal is wholly inviolable,

inasmuch as there is no possible way of introducing a knife or like prying-blade between the inner portion of the tongue g and the inner surface of h, to which it is securely gummed.

Upon referring to Fig. 5 it will be noted that to release the tioketit is necessary to cut the tongues Z and g along the line connecting them with their corresponding flaps. This is done by the return or stop-over agent after the purchaser in his presence has signed the contract on the outside of the sealed ticket. The agent then compares the signature with those that are Within the ticket and I otherwise identifies the purchaser by referring to the identification-slip. he then validates the ticket, stamps and punches it, as hereinbefore indicated, and returns it to the purchaser.

From what has been said it will be apparent that the sealed ticket is not a commodity It' satisfied, 1

that a scalper could purchase. It being impossible for him to open it, he would not know the character of the identification conrained within it, or even the sex of the purchaser, nor the station to which it was available, nor the handwriting of the purchaser. The sealed ticket would therefore represent nothing that he could with safety purchase or that any one buying from him could present to the return ticket agent for validation without immediate forfeiture.

Havingthus described myinvention, what I claim is- 1. A safety-ticket formed from a single blank, comprising awrapper or envelop, having overlying flaps, coupons integral therewith and folded within said flaps, additional coupons projecting from said wrapper, and means to seal said wrapper and thereby inclose said folded coupons in said wrapper.

2. A safety-ticket formed from a single blank, comprising a wrapper or envelop, coupons integral therewith and folded therein, additional coupons projecting from said wrapper, and a gummed tongueadapted to seal the folded envelop and thereby to inclose the folded coupons in said wrapper.

3. A safety-ticket formed from a single blank, comprising a wrapper or envelop, coupons integral therewith and folded therein, additional coupons projecting from said wrapper, and gummed tongues adapted to be folded over and secured to the back of said wrapper and thereby seal the folded coupons in said wrapper.

4. A safety-ticket formed from a single blank, comprising a wrapper or envelop, coupons integral therewith and folded therein, additional coupons projecting from said Wrapper, and gummed tongues engaging slots in the back of said wrapper and bent backward after insertion through the slots, and secured to the inner surface of the wrapper.

5. A safety-ticket formed from a single' blank, comprising a wrapper or'envelop, coupons integral therewith and folded therein, additional coupons projecting from said wrapper, and interlocking gummed tongues engaging cross-slots in the back of said wrapper f and bent backward after insertion through the slots, and secured to the inner surface of the wrapper.

6. A safety-ticket formed from a single blank, comprising a wrapper or envelop, coupons integral therewith and folded therein, additional coupons projecting from said wrap per, and a gummed tongue passing through a slot in said projecting coupons and secured to the back of the wrapper.

7. A safety-ticket formed from a single blank, comprising a wrapper or envelop, coupons integral therewith and folded therein, additional coupons projecting from said wrapper, a gummed tongue passing through a slot in said projecting coupon and secured to the back of the wrapper, and a second gummed IOO IIO

tongue secured to the back of the Wrapper, said gummed tongues constituting an interlooking seal for the Wrapper.

8. A blank fora safety-ticket, comprising a central portion, lateral outlying flaps, Aa

vsealing-tongue on one of said aps, a longitudinal flap, a sealing-tongue thereon, a foldable series of coupons provided with a transverse slot for the passage of the second-mentioned sealing-tongue.

second longitudinal iiap opposite the rst longitndinal ilapl and provided with a transverse slot for the passage of the second-mentioned sealing-tongue, said central portion being provided With receiving-slots for the sealingtongues.

ll. A blank for a safety-envelop, comprisf ing a central portion, lateral outlying flaps,

a slotted sealing-tongue on one of said flaps, a longitudinal iiap, a sealing-tongue thereon, and a second longitudinal flap opposite the first longitudinal flap and provided with a transverse slot, said Central 'portion having crossed slots to be engaged by said sealingtongues.

In testimony whereof I affix my signaturein presence of tWo witnesses.

LOWNDES G. SMITH.

Witnesses:

JOHN C. PENNIE, A. E. GRANT. 

